poof

English

Alternative forms

• pouf

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic. See also puff.

Pronunciation

• enPR: po͝of, IPA^(key): /pʊf/
• (US)
  • IPA^(key): /puːf/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊf, -uːf
• Homophones: pouf, pouffe (with certain dialects and/or accents)

Interjection

poof

1. Onomatopoeia indicating a small explosion with a cloud of smoke; as caused by a deflating object, or a magical disappearance.

   Poof, he was gone.

   • 1995, Christopher McQuarrie, The Usual Suspects:

     Verbal (Kevin Spacey): The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone.

Derived terms

• foofy
• poofy

Translations

deflating object or a magical disappearance

• Finnish: puff (fi)
• French: pouf (fr)

• German: puff (de)
• Portuguese: puf
• Swedish: poff

Verb

poof (third-person singular simple present poofs, present participle poofing, simple past and past participle poofed)

1. To vanish or disappear.

   He poofed into thin air.

2. To break wind; to fart.

Translations

to vanish

• French: s'évanouir (fr), s'évaporer (fr), disparaître (fr)

• Polish: znikać (pl)

to fart

• French: péter (fr), prouter (fr)

• Swedish: fisa (sv), fjärta (sv), prutta (sv)

Noun

poof (plural poofs)

1. The product of flatulence, or the sound of breaking wind.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

poof (plural poofs or (less common) pooves)

1. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand, derogatory, colloquial) A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:male homosexual

   • 2015, Irvine Welsh, A Decent Ride, Random House (→ISBN), page 21:

     He recalls how everybody got called a ‘poof’ at Forrester High School in the seventies. Back then, only ‘wanker’ possibly rivalled it as the most common term of abuse. But The Poof was the Poof.

Derived terms

• poofter

Translations

A male homosexual.

• Catalan: marieta (ca) m, marica (ca) m, maricó m
• Finnish: hintti (fi)
• French: pédale (fr) f, tante (fr) f, tapette (fr) f
• Italian: finocchio (it) m, checca (it) f
• Norwegian: skrulle m or f, fjolle m or f

• Polish: pedał (pl) m, pedzio (pl) m
• Portuguese: bicha (pt)
• Russian: голубо́й (ru) (golubój)
• Swedish: fjolla (sv) c

The product of flatulence.

• Danish: prut (da)
• French: pet (fr) m, prout (fr) m

• Swedish: fis (sv) c, fjärt (sv) c, prutt (sv) c